Noah at 21 Months

Another 3 months has passed and my little Noah is quickly approaching that 2nd birthday! He is turning into a little man right before our eyes!

 

Speaking of eyes, this child has the most beautiful big brown eyes I’ve ever seen. His lashes go on for days and days. I can just stare at them all day long. Don’t get me started on his little dimples.

 

 

Noah has been very playful, both with us and other kiddos his age. He loves to run around the columns in the front room and chase and be chased by his brother & sister. He continues to climb into and onto anything and everything. He still hasn’t figured out how to get out of his crib yet, thank goodness!

 

His language is exploding. He will repeat pretty much anything you say, and he’s using more and more words in context. Just recently he’s added “cuppy” & “bear” along with lots of food words (“cheese” & “berry” are two of his favorites). Whenever he sees Ben he shouts “BEN!” but I haven’t heard him say “Grace” on his own. This does not surprise me.

 

 

Noah has started snuggling up on the couch with Ben & Grace for cartoon time. His favorite is Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. He still loves balls & cars & his Rambo, but he is also becoming interested in playing with stuffed animals. He will gather up little friends into our play grocery cart (along with Rambo & his cuppy) and drive them around the house.

 

Noah got a new Elmo doll for Christmas, which he was really excited about until he got his finger stuck in Elmo’s mouth somehow. After that, he didn’t want anything to do with Elmo. Anytime he saw him he would say “Elmo – BITE”. They’ve since made up and Elmo spends quite a few nights in Noah’s crib, but he still calls him “Elmo Bite”. I guess it’s easier to forgive than forget.

 

My other favorite Noah story happened the other day when I was trying to change his diaper. Our little discussion went something like this:

 

Me: Noah, are you poopy?

N: Poooo-py

Me: Woo-wee you’re stinky.

N: Wooo-weee

Me: Ok, let’s go change your diaper.

N: (taking off full speed away from me) RUN! RUN!

 

Luckily he wasn’t too hard to catch since he ran straight into his closet. I had the smelly little guy cornered and we had a nice little laugh and tickle session before diaper time. He’s so sneaky!

 

 

I love Noah’s numerous expressions and mannerisms. I love how he struts and bounces around (my favorites are when he walks bent over when he’s trying to get away with something and when he walks like Godzilla when he has a full diaper).

 

He also has a really funny way of getting down the stairs.

 

 

 

Noah loves taking long afternoon naps and he is a bear if he gets woken up before he’s ready. His hair is finally growing in thicker. It curls up around his ears and in the back. We should probably cut it, but we’re trying to see if we can wait until he’s 2! We’re probably going to have to nickname him Shaggy before then.

 

 

I can’t believe that my next update will be on your 2nd birthday, little bug! I love playing with you, snuggling with you on the couch, and chasing you around before changing your diaper ~ you are one special little guy!

 

Happy 21 Months, Noah!

Bass Pro Santa

We had so much fun at Bass Pro last year, that we decided to hit it up again this year for their annual Christmas festivities. The Sullivans called us up to say that they were going to be headed that way and asked us to join them. Of course we said “YES!”

 

Our friends were just getting done with their Christmas pictures when we arrived. Brian & Noah got us a place in the Santa photo line, and Melissa, Seth & I took the rest of the kiddos over to the craft area. They each made a little snowman on a stick.

 



 

They were so proud of their final products! Also, how grown up does Luke look here?! He’s a big kid!

 

 

After craft time it was our turn with Santa. We didn’t have any tears this year. YAY!

 

 

Still, I think if Noah could talk, he would have said that for Christmas he wanted to be a bit farther away from Santa.

 

 

After our pictures we did a few rounds on the carousel, raced around the remote control car track, checked out the big fish tank, and took a ride up and down the glass elevators. The activities were all so much fun, and being with friends made it even better!

O Christmas Tree

We picked up our tree the first chance we got when we got back into town after Thanksgiving. I dug through all of the ornaments and gave each kiddo their own box with the ornaments they’ve received so far. It was fun to talk about why each ornament was picked out for them each year!

Then they went to town putting their own ornaments on the tree. Noah needed a little help from Daddy, but his went pretty fast since he only has 3 so far!

 

 

Noah getting some help from Daddy.

 

 

Finding the perfect spot.

 

 

Topping it off with our sweet angel!

 

 

All done!

 

 

And showing off their new Christmas jammies.

 

 

Noah is starting to trust Grace a little more these days!

 

 

Sometime he lets her touch him. :)

 

 

I already have the three best presents under my tree!

 



 

We had a few ornament casualties this year thanks to a certain 20 month old. Hopefully it’s nothing a little super glue can’t fix. He spent a day or two pacing around the tree saying “toy! toy! toy!” but I think we’ve finally convinced him to keep his hands to himself!

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Cousin Time!

After Michael’s party, we rounded up the cousins for some quick group photos. It went about as well as you’d expect for trying to get 5 kids to be somewhat still and all look in the same general direction!

 

My expectations were fairly low (all 5 cousins in the same frame)… I was pleasantly surprised!

 

 

This one is my fave!

 

 

Noah wanted a pic of just him and Michael.

 

 

What’s that you got there, little buddy?

 

 

Sharing is caring, Michael.

 

 

You can try it for a second, but I need it back!

 

Sweetie came in at the tail end to try to get a group shot with all of her grandbabies, but a few of our key players were DONE by then. Better luck next time, Sweetie!

 

Michael’s 1st Birthday

Michael’s birthday party coincided with the Thanksgiving holiday, so we were able to be a part of it! Holly went all out with a Froggy/Swamp Prince Theme. The party was at a great park near their house. The weather was perfect – cool and sunny. There was yummy food and fun games, and lots of friends and family came out to party with Prince Michael!

 

Sweet boy was a little sleepy at first – but he quickly warmed up to the festivities!

 

 

Holly carried the theme to the food. She made a bait bucket filled with “dirt” and worms.

 

 

There was also “Gator Corn” & “Gator Tails”.

 

 

Holly made froggy cupcakes! I think they were awesome ~ they made me giggle each time I looked at the crazy little eyes. Holly’s dad was giving her a hard time & saying they looked like frogs that had been run over, but what does he know? :)

 

 

If you don’t smile when you look at these cupcakes, then there’s something wrong with you! Hee hee.

 

 

After we munched on the yummy food, it was time for games. First, the kids had a froggy race.

On your mark, get set…

 

 

HOP!!!

 

 

Gracie was catching some serious air… Noah was having a tough time moving past the starting line.

 

 

The kids also played “Pin the Tail on the Alligator”.

 

 

After games, it was time to sing to the birthday boy and give him his turtle smash cake that his mommy made just for him!

 

 

Holly’s friend made a cute banner for Michael’s high chair.

 

 

We had to pretend to light the candle ‘cause it was a little too windy.

 

 

We all sang and then it was time for the Prince to go to town.

 

 

Hold on - Pre-icing Family Photo Op!

 

 

Michael made sure the smash cake lived up to its potential!

 

 

Paw Paw helped Noah to get in on some green icing action, too.

 

 

Once his belly was full, little man opened his presents (with some help from his Mom & brother & Gracie.)

 

 

I offered to make Michael’s onesie for the party and Holly requested a camo bow tie.

 

 

We had a little photo shoot after the party. Michael was hopped up on sugar and hamming it up!

 

 

We had the best time celebrating this little guy!

He is the CUTEST!

 

Happy Birthday, Michael!

 

Love, Aunt Gabi, Uncle Brian, Ben, Grace & Noah

A Cajun Thanksgiving

We travelled again for Thanksgiving… this year we were back in Louisiana. We stayed at Mom’s and ate TOO MUCH yummy food.

 

Noah wanted to help Sweetie cook – he knows that yams are part of his heritage! :)

 

 

The weather was SOOOOO nice that we spent most of our time outside. I was excited to smush this little face.

 

 

Aunt Holly had the same idea – and she went for two at once!

 

 

Gracie couldn’t let the boys steal all of the snuggles, so she did her best to make her rounds and entertain us all!

 

 

My little yeti brother was the official turkey fryer. I guess the beard increases his wisdom and skills, because he did an amazing job. That turkey was DEE-LICIOUS!

 

 

Turkey frying must be really hard, too, because he had to take a nap afterwards.

 

 

Michael decided that that was enough rest for one day, so he stole his Daddy’s hat.

 

 

Paw Paw came over to spend the day and sample the goodies.

 

 

He promised to come back the next day to boil us some seafood! YAY!

 

 

And boil he did. YUMMM! I got my fill of shrimp and crabs and I was in heaven!

 

 

Unfortunately, I had to share with this guy.

 

 

While Paw Paw was cooking, the boys played some football.

 

 

Go long!

 

 

Noah decided he was done…

 

 

because Aunt Holly had PIE! It was finger licking good, apparently!

 

 

The kids crashed at the end of the day, except for Noah, who spent some time curating his social media.

 

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I was looking through pictures after we got home and I remembered that another little boy wore the same shirt for Thanksgiving back in 2007.

 

I knew I recognized those cheeks from somewhere!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! Gobble, Gobble!